(Yicai Global) Nov. 12 -- Chinese civil engineering firm Long Jian Road & Bridge has won a bid to be general contractor for a highway bridge in eastern The Gambia backed by the Chinese government.

The nearly CNY513 million (USD73.3 million) bid was accepted by the Agency for International Economic Cooperation under China's Ministry of Commerce, Harbin-based Long Jian said in a statement yesterday. The transaction will be settled in yuan and the company will be solely responsible for the project's financials.

The project in Basse, known previously as the Upper River Division, aims to facilitate access to nearby markets. The Gambia is almost entirely landlocked by Senegal -- it shares no other borders and its West African coastline is barely 80 kilometers long.

Long Jian said the bridge will take 30 months to build and include an asphalt road, a 48 kilometer two-lane highway and two bridges. One will be 250 meters long with a 15 meter clearance and the second will span 170 meters at eight meters high.